The army also said 17 Boko Haram fighters died in the fighting following the pre-dawn strike.

The bomb exploded when they were about to enter Bosso town, one of the sources told newsmen, adding that the militants were planning to carry out an attack. “The attackers were pushed back and the army is continuing search operations in the zone”.

Attacks by the Boko Haram Islamist group have lately been concentrated in Nigeria’s northeastern‎ Borno state, the birthplace of the insurgency, and the northern parts of neighboring Adamawa state.

In a statement signed by its President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Secretary General, Comrade Musa Lawal, the congress condemned Friday night’s suicide bomb attacks in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Saturday’s incident in Maiduguri, describing it as needless and mindless.

Boko Haram has targeted schools for attacks in an effort to dissuade students from participating in Western-style education, notably a 2014 attack on a school in Chibok in which over 200 girls were abducted, the majority of whom remain missing. Almost 20 people were killed and more than 40 were injured.

In June, five African countries, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, agreed to set up a joint military force to battle Boko Haram.

Lake Chad is shared between the four countries.

The militants have gained global notoriety for killing or kidnapping members of ethnic and religious minorities and posting videos of its members killing Arab and Western hostages.